Xylocopinae

Xylocopinae can be distinguished from other Apidae by the presence of an acarinarium—a cavity between the thorax and abdomen that houses predatory mites—in some species. Large carpenter bees (Xylocopini) are notably robust with shiny, often metallic abdomens and lack the dense hair covering seen in bumble bees. Small carpenter bees (Ceratinini) are slender, often with metallic coloration, and nest in pithy stems. Allodapini and Manueliini are distinguished by their specialized nesting habits and geographic restrictions.

Most Xylocopinae nest in dead wood, hollow stems, bamboo, or pithy plant material. The subgenus Proxylocopa (within Xylocopini) is exceptional in nesting in soil walls of gullies, mounds, and cliffs. Allodapini are restricted to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia, and Australasia. Manueliini are endemic to southern South America (Chile and adjacent Argentina).

Worldwide except Antarctica. Xylocopini and Ceratinini have cosmopolitan distributions. Allodapini occur in sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia, and Australasia, with rare occurrence in montane Middle East. Manueliini are restricted to Chile and the Lakes Region of Argentina.

Adults feed on nectar from flowers. Larvae are provisioned with pollen and nectar formed into bee bread.

Social organization is highly variable and labile, with repeated independent transitions between solitary and social states. Most species are solitary, but many are communal or primitively eusocial. Some Allodapini form eusocial colonies with morphological castes. Ceratina species exhibit facultative sociality, with social behavior sometimes artificially inducible. Nest architecture typically involves branching or straight-chain tunnel systems in wood or stems; some species construct distinct wintering nests separate from breeding nests.

Important pollinators of agricultural and horticultural crops. Some species have been observed to engage in nectar robbing by cutting slits at the base of flowers. The group is significant for research on the evolutionary origins of eusociality, representing one of the most promising systems for understanding transitions between solitary and social organization.

Large carpenter bees (Xylocopa) can cause structural damage by tunneling into wooden buildings, fences, and furniture, though they do not consume wood. They are important pollinators in both natural and agricultural systems. Some species have been transported well beyond their native ranges through human-mediated movement of nesting materials, leading to established populations on Pacific islands and other regions.

• ApinaeBoth are subfamilies of Apidae, but Apinae includes honey bees and bumble bees which typically have more densely hairy bodies, different nesting habits (social colonies with wax combs in Apinae vs. wood or stem nesting in most Xylocopinae), and lack the acarinarium found in some Xylocopinae.
• MegachilinaeBoth are bee subfamilies with some wood-nesting species, but Megachilinae carry pollen on the ventral scopa (abdomen) rather than on the hind legs, and have different nesting architectures and social systems.

• bees
• carpenter bees
• pollinators
• social insects
• wood-nesting bees

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Catalogue of Life
• Nesting Biology of Xylocopa xinjiangensis (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae)
• A molecular phylogeny and social behaviour of Japanese Ceratina (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Xylocopinae)
• Phylogeny of the carpenter bees (Apidae: Xylocopinae) highlights repeated evolution of sociality
• New locality records for Xylocopa (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae) fauna of Turkey
• Abejas carpinteras del género <i>Manuelia</i> (apidae, xylocopinae): vislumbrando la distribución de este taxón en Sudamérica Carpenter bees of the genus <i>Manuelia</i> (apidae, xylocopinae): shedding light on the distribution of this taxon in South America
• Xylocopa sonorina Smith, 1874 from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Xylocopinae) with comments on its taxonomy
• Nest architecture and life cycle of Small Carpenter bee, Ceratina binghami Cockerell (Xylocopinae: Apidae: Hymenoptera)
• Scuticeratina: A new subgenus of small carpenter bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Xylocopinae) from Indomalaya
• The life cycle and social organization of bees of the genus Exoneura and their parasite, Inquilina (Hymenoptera: Xylocopinae)
• Nesting biology of an Oriental carpenter bee, Xylocopa (Biluna) nasalis Westwood, 1838, in Thailand (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Xylocopinae)
• The large carpenter bees of central Saudi Arabia, with notes on the biology of Xylocopa sulcatipes Maa (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Xylocopinae)
• Kin Recognition in the largely Solitary Bee, Manuelia postica (Apidae: Xylocopinae)
• Nesting Biology of a Neotropical Bee, Ceratina mexicana currani Schwarz (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae)
• The mite community associated withXylocopa latipes(Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae: Xylocopinae) with description of a new type of acarinarium
• A new socially parasitic <i>Braunsapis</i> (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae: Allodapini) from Vietnam, with a key to female socially parasitic <i>Braunsapis</i> in Asia